Eco-Mum Says Toss Those Nappies With Elimination Communication (EC)

Well we have looked at the cloth nappy issue: now for the ultimate in eco-friendly baby practices – let’s go nappy free. No rubbish and no washing! You can’t get greener than that.

So how does it work?

Well it’s as simple as it sounds, your baby is nappy free. Elimination Communication (EC) is the practice of reading your baby’s expressions to understand when they need to do peepee or kaki and being able to respond to them. EC mums say that it strengthens their relationship with their baby.

EC practices are becoming more and more popular today as more people understand that bringing children into our world should be taken at a slower, more considerate pace and that it is not just about finding the quickest, most convenient way to bring them up.

So how do you know? Well, generally babies are quite verbal about their needs and give plenty of hints to what they want. For example, we soon learn to recognize the cry for food and in the case of nappies, when they are wet. So taking the next step forward, we can also recognize when they actually have peepee or kaki too.

Usually a baby will become quite quiet, gazing off into space before a bowel movement; mum then places baby over the potty or toilet. EC mums also teach their children to associate a sign or noise with their needs.

To make it even easier there are a whole range of products out there specially suited for an EC baby, such as potties, toilet seats and split opening trousers so you don’t have to fuss about taking trousers on and off.

There is a whole EC community in Israel, too. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything in English here, but if you have the Hebrew go to BeOfenTV–they have lots of information and blogs to help you get started.